Process
Every record goes through the same sequence, whether the run is fifty copies or fifty thousand. Here is what happens between your master and the box that arrives.
- 01
Mastering
Your mix is prepared for the groove: level, bass content, sibilance and side length are balanced against each other so the cut behaves. Bring your own vinyl master or let us handle it.
- 02
Cutting
The audio is engraved into a lacquer-coated disc in real time. This is the physical original from which everything else descends.
- 03
Electroplating
The cut is turned into metal: the stamper that presses your records, plus, on longer runs, an intermediate part so fresh stampers can be grown as the first ones wear.
- 04
Test pressing
A handful of records pressed ahead of the run, so you can confirm the cut, the track order and the sides before the full quantity exists.
- 05
Print
Labels, sleeves, inserts and any extras go to print. Labels have to exist before the records do — they are pressed into the vinyl itself — so printing runs ahead of, or alongside, the pressing rather than after it.
- 06
Pressing
Granulate is warmed, formed and pressed between the stampers. Colours, effects and special finishes all happen at this stage, which is why they vary from copy to copy.
- 07
Quality control and packaging
Every record is checked as it is sleeved. We look at each pressing, listen wherever there is any doubt, and set aside anything that is not right rather than letting it through. What passes goes into its inner sleeve, its cover and any extras, and is packed ready to travel.
- 08
Shipping
Packed and sent wherever you need it. Shipping is quoted separately once the destination and quantity are known.